Recognize Right Blog: Unlock the People Potential in Your Organization

As a person who is passionate about giving back to our world, I am always looking for meaningful ways to support socially responsible organizations and the individuals they benefit. Last week, a group of us from Anderson Performance Improvement experienced an afternoon at Feed My Starving Children (FMSC). 

Feed My Starving Children is a non-profit Christian organization committed to feeding starving children around the globe.  The success of the organization is due to its fun and easy approach; school-aged children and adults pack meals formulated by food scientists for starving children.  Once the meals are packed, they’re sealed, boxed and stacked on pallets ready for shipment.

FMSC sends meals all over the world, including El Salvador, Haiti, and Nicaragua, to name just a few. We learned how our 2 hours of effort can change the lives of hundreds of children.   At the end of the day, we were able to feed 33 children for one full year!  It was truly an amazing experience. 

What is your organization doing to support social responsible initiates?  Please let me about.

I recently ran across an interesting article in Advertising Age about “Reaching Out to Conversationalists.”  Conversationalists – who are they?  I asked the same thing.  According to Merriam-Webster, it is one who converses a great deal or who excels in conversation.  But wait, a new meaning has emerged!  According to Forrester Research, it is the group who has the behavior of rapid back-and-forth discussion in social media networks (like Twitter and Facebook) at least once a week.

The group’s demographics might surprise you.  You might picture college age, male – well, guess again.  70% of this group is 30 or older, 56% female, household income is $2000 higher then the average online consumer, and their level of engagement is sky-high!

To me, the biggest shock is the number of online consumers who are NOT using social media, which is down to 17% and dropping at a quick rate. Are you using social media to its full potential to reach possible clients?

As we all know, social media is a successful way to market your business.  It’s a great way to expand your blogging efforts, gain exposure to your products and services or find a new salesperson for your organization.

For example, consider Ford using social media to promote a new Fiesta model.  They invited dozens of social media users (with a specific demographic, of course) to live with the car for six months. Not only are they receiving valuable feedback, but they are also building a broader awareness of Ford.  This really shows Ford cares about what their customers (and potential customers) think.

Or retail chain Target’s charity campaign.  The company launched “Bullseye Gives” an online voting application on Facebook.  Users select one of the ten charities listed they would like to see funds allocated to.  The money is given out on percentages; 10% of the votes gets 10% of the money. Because these social media applications are so smart, the vote is published on your Facebook feed which means your friends will see it – and more and more will become fans of Target.  Very clever!

How can social media campaigns work for you?  What are your organization’s strategies using social media?

During this down economy, I have been approached by several colleagues on how to increase sales.  The typical question I receive is “What is the fastest way to increase sales in our current economy?” This particular message was sent from the CEO of a mid-size company. During these difficult times, it is a whole different ballgame and you need to target your sales efforts differently.

Everywhere you look companies are slashing budgets, but you can still make the sale.  How do you handle that less than desired answer “We don’t have a budget for that.”  You want to make sure your sales people have the right focus.

According to the Harvard Business Review, “In a Downturn, Provoke Your Customers” (March 2009), by using provocation-based selling, they persuade customers that the products or solutions you bring to the table are not just nice, but necessary.  How do you change your existing sales force to this new way of thinking?  Recognize them for making the transition to the new desired tactics.

Here are 3 steps provided by the Harvard Business Review that you can do to ramp up your sales force.

1. Identify a critical problem facing your customer, something so large that the company will locate the funds.  Ask yourself “What is keeping the CEO up at night”?
2. Bring a new perspective to the problem; use research and brainstorming to create a new view for the problem.  For example, you are thinking X, and maybe you should be thinking Y.
3. Target the executive to lodge the provocation with someone that has the power to approve it.  Many of the executives you and your sales force have forged relationships with are no longer there, but you can motivate those new contacts by using provocation-based selling.

Of course, this approach is not going to happen overnight or be the answer to all selling situations, but it can shine a new light on age-old selling problems. It can get everyone thinking in the right direction.

No matter what your sales strategies are for 2010, it is most important to reward those sales people who are creating innovative solutions and those who break new sales barriers. Take a look at my white paper, “Impact Your Bottom Line Now, Build a Culture of Recognition.”  Creating a culture of recognition can and will impact your sales people by creating engaged and motivated employees.

What are your strategies to increase sales within your organization?  Does it include recognition? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Last week I attended the annual Motivation Show in Chicago. So you might ask, what’s new?  First off, I am truly amazed how the performance improvement industry is growing in this economy.

Many companies (mostly mid size, 4000+ employees) for the first time are seeking a rewards and recognition partner. These companies have been running programs themselves for years. Unfortunately, they never took the time to formalize their recognition efforts, and quite possibly, many programs were running throughout their organization at the same time.   Not only were results improperly tracked, ROI was not on target.  Talk about throwing money out the window! 

While good companies realize the importance of motivated employees, they are also looking for cost savings and value. Organizations are looking at what is being spent annually and are realizing a centralized recognition system would save thousands.  An experienced partner can assist with powerful online reward and recognition tools, allocating funds, budget creation, and ROI tracking.  Check out the 2009 Circle of Excellence Award winners.

Also, a variety of players in the marketplace are morphing and changing.  Many of those who specialize in years of service, travel options or trophies are now expanding their horizons.  Not only are they providing their existing products and services, they are now offering a more complete array of services.  Goes to show this marketplace is changing just like any other industry in this economy. 

Another interesting take away from the show was the huge impact of green and socially responsible award suppliers.  More green and socially responsible “products” are appearing as reward choices.  And the Gen Y group is the number one fan!

If you attended The Motivation Show, I would enjoy hearing your thoughts and feedback.